Citizens are running around ATMs during the last couple of days in the city with many ATMs going dry as a result of the bandh on Friday and a rush of withdrawals as second Saturday and Sunday are bank holidays.
The cash crunch at ATM s and at bank branches, which began before the start of Sankranti, is still haunting customers on and off during the past one month. The problem became acute during the past few days with many ATM s running dry in the city and bank branches also limiting the payments to customers.
“Most of the ATM s of various banks, located between Peda Waltair (AU Engineering College Down) and Ram Nagar Main Road, displayed ‘No cash’ boards today (Friday) evening. I was relieved when I found the ‘YES Bank’ ATM at Ram Nagar Junction issuing cash,” said a resident of Pandurangapuram.
“The cash being received from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) does not even meet half of our requirement. This apart, the deposits by customers have dropped drastically and the withdrawal of FD s and other deposits increased like never before,” say bankers. This is attributed to the confusion created among the people as a result of the Financial Resolution and Deposit Insurance (FRDI) Bill.
“Andhra Bank is managing to get cash from neighbouring States, besides borrowing from private banks in view of the short supply from RBI. Cash is being loaded at our onsite ATMs to a certain extent, but offsite (away from bank branches) ATMs are not being refilled. Restrictions are imposed on withdrawal of cash due to the shortage,” say a source.
It’s learnt that the State Bank of India (SBI), which has the maximum number of branches and ATMs in the city, is also unable to replenish its offsite ATMs. It is also said to have restricted the maximum withdrawal amount by its customers.
“Though we have loaded cash at our onsite ATMs, they may run out of cash by Saturday evening,” said the Andhra Bank source.
